Vin Diesel: Fast and Furious 9 delay is no-one's fault

The ninth instalment of the popular franchise was recently delayed until 2020, and whilst rapper and actor Tyrese Gibson recently placed blame on co-star Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson - as a spin-off movie starring him and Jason Statham is slated for a 2019 release - 50-year-old Vin thinks it's "unfair" to put any of the cast members at fault.

Vin - who has long been feuding with Dwayne since the former wrestler slammed some unnamed co-stars in 2016 - took to Instagram on Friday (06.10.17) to share a still of himself and Dwayne from the franchise, in which he hinted that the three-year wait for a new main series movie would act as "maintenance" for the franchise.

His lengthy caption read: "Brotherhood... and all it's complexities. This scene was filmed in Puerto Rico, I can remember it like it was yesterday. Such a beautiful island, the people were so warm and welcoming. I turned 43 that summer... and my son Vincent was born.

"A woman named Jan Kelly responded to a question I had asked on Facebook, 'who they would like to see me work with?' She said would love to see me work with Dwayne... I listened to her request and he became Hobbs.

"I know there has been a lot of speculation as to why the Fast 9 release date was pushed... but it would be unfair to say it is anyone's fault.

"As we plot the course to expand the Fast & Furious universe, one must be mindful to take stock of the roads we took to get here. The pillars of authenticity, family and most importantly, our loyal fan's perspective has been instrumental in procuring success.

"However, like any vehicle that has run around the globe 8 times, the franchise is in need of maintenance. My good friend and the godfather of Universal, Ron Meyer has granted me the time to do just that. We have some very exciting news to share soon... stay tuned.

"Yours truly, Dom

"#FamilyAlways (sic)"

The news comes after 38-year-old Tyrese accused Dwayne, 45, of "flying solo" in creating the spin-off movie, when he believes the franchise stars should stick together.

He wrote in the comments of one of Dwayne's Instagram posts: "If you move forward with that #Hobbs Movie you will have purposely ignored the heart to heart moment we had in my sprinter -- I don't wanna hear from you until you remember what we talked about -- I'm on your timeline cause you're not responding to my text messages -- #FastFamily is just that a family....... We don't fly solo. (sic)"

Speculation of a feud between the male co-stars first surfaced when Dwayne slammed unnamed actors for the way they allegedly acted on set.

In his rant, the star praised his female co-stars, Charlize Theron, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez, but admitted it was a "different story" working with the guys.

He wrote: "My female co-stars are always amazing and I love 'em. My male co-stars however are a different story.

"Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't. The ones that don't are too chicken s**t to do anything about it anyway. Candy asses. (sic)"